Hunt the Truth
by EliteGough1998
Summary: Several weeks after the Fall of Vale, Epsilon Xiao Long wakes up in Patch, unaware of anything that had happened after Penny Polendina's death. Staying with Taiyang, Yang and Ruby in Patch, Epsilon decides to search for answers with their help to find out who caused the Fall of Vale, why they did it and who this mysterious "Salem" is.
1. Prologue

**Chapter One - Prologue**

 **(21 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Outskirts of Patch**

 **20:30**

* * *

Ruby spun Crescent Rose a couple of times, sticking the blade into the ground and aimed down the sight at a Beowolf a couple of hundred meters away. She closed one eye, looked down the scope and adjusted the angle of the scythe, turning it slightly in the ground. After final adjustments, she pulled the trigger, the dust round soaring across the sky and blew straight through the Grimm's skull, the Beowolf promptly fell to the ground and started dissipating. Ruby pulled away from the scope with a smirk.

"Still got it." She muttered to herself proudly, leaning back up and pulling the scythe out of the ground. Behind her, a crow 'cawwed' to catch her attention, Ruby turning around to see a dozen angry Beowolves growling at her for killing a member of their pack. Ruby sighed, cocking the rifle and aimed it behind her. She fired and flew forward, yelling as she reached the first Beowolf and promptly sliced it in half from the waist, the two halves falling to the ground. The rest roared in anger and charged. Ruby spun the scythe and buried it in the ground, firing six shots that pierced the skulls of six Beowolves, and pulled it out and leapt backwards when one swung it's claw at her. She spun around and decapitated the Grimm, fired the rifle behind her and dismembered another Beowolf, and separated another from head to toe. The final two charged and leapt at her, Ruby used her semblance to quickly move out of the way as the two Grimm collided, butting heads and disorienting them. SHe charged forward and quickly decapitated one, leapt up into the air and buried the scythe into the final one.

Ruby folded Crescent Rose into the compact form, attaching it to her lower back and pulled out her scroll, realising it was quite late. She turned around to the crow that 'helped' her and saluted it, and headed back home.

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **21:00**

* * *

Ruby entered her house on Patch, rubbing her booted feet on the floor to remove any mud, and walked into her and Yang's bedroom, relaxing. She had been outside for several hours training with Crescent Rose, finding and killing any stray Grimm on the island. She glanced at the door when she heard knocking. "Come in!" Ruby yelled, and her father entered. "Hey Dad."

"Hey Ruby." Taiyang answered, walking in. "I got you a drink of water, I figured you'd be pretty exhausted after that training all morning." Ruby quickly grabbed it and gulped it all in a few seconds, sighing when she finished.

"Thank you! I was just about to get one myself." Ruby told her father, who chuckled a little. "So...has Yang done anything while I've been gone?"

"Unfortunately not. She's still just in bed, I think she watched while you left to make sure you were okay." Taiyang assured.

"And Epsilon?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Still deactivated. You can see for yourself, but I'm no engineer when it comes to androids. We'll just have to wait." Taiyang told his daughter.

"It's been weeks though." Ruby muttered.

"What he's done, even if he wasn't aware of it, and had no control, can have a heavy toll on anyone, or anything for that matter." Taiyang explained. "I'll be in the other room if you need me."

"Thanks Dad." Ruby told him as he left. She sighed and got up, walking out of her and Yang's room to the guest room. She stood at the doorway for a moment, looking at her pale and weak sister, and her 'brother' sitting at the foot of Yang's bed, eyes closed and slightly bent over. "Yang?" Ruby called to her sister, who didn't acknowledge her. "I'm just going to check on Epsilon, okay?"

"Why?" Yang asked, still looking out the window.

"B-because he's not woken up yet." Ruby told Yang.

"I heard Dad, he's asleep because he doesn't want to wake up yet." Yang told Ruby, turning to her. "Neither of us know what he really did that night, but it must have been bad."

"I-I just want to make sure." Ruby said, entering the room.

"Be careful." Yang told Ruby, watching her as Ruby approached him. Ruby shook his shoulder lightly.

"Epsilon? Can you hear me?" Ruby asked, shaking his arm a little more. "Epsilon, please wake up." Nothing happened.

"Epsilon, wake up." Yang ordered, knowing she was in charge of Epsilon, and having a little slither of hope he would awaken. "Epsilon, wake up!" Wake up!"

"Yang, it's not going to work." Ruby said sadly, knowing that further attempts wouldn't work. "It was worth a try."

"Hmm." Yang murmured, looking out the window again. Ruby got up and left, standing a the doorway and turned to Yang.

"I love you, Yang." Ruby said again, doing again after every time she left. As with every other time, Yang didn't please respond. With a sad sigh, Ruby exited and entered her own room.

"...Please, Epsilon. We miss you. _I miss you_." Yang whispered, looking at him, but to no avail. She sighed sadly and looked out the window again.

...

...

...

Epsilon's hand twitched.

* * *

 **23:59**

* * *

 _" **HELLO RUBY ROSE. IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU.**_ _"..._

 _..._

 _" **HELLO YANG XIAO LONG. MY NAME IS EPSILON.** "..._

 _..._

 _" **I'M... LEADING THE MISSION? THAT'S PRETTY COOL.** "..._

 _..._

 _"... **I TRUST YOU THE MOST**..."..._

 _..._

 _" **I HAD A NIGHTMARE.** "..._

 _..._

 _" **IF ONLY I WAS HUMAN.** "..._

 _..._

 _" **I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN LET YOU GET HIM.** "..._

 _..._

 _" **YOU... CONSIDER ME A FRIEND?** "..._

 _..._

 _" **PENNY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I PROMISE ONE DAY I'LL REPAY YOU FOR THIS.** "..._

...

 _"I... I feel alive."..._

 _..._

 _"Maybe I can be a little brother."..._

 _..._

 _"I'm Epsilon Xiao Long, Yang's brother and the first official-unofficial-official member of Team RWBY."..._

 _..._

 _"It's just a nightmare..."..._

 _..._

 _"No, it's not a dream, its a prophesy."..._

 _..._

 _"I can't cry, Yang."..._

 _..._

 _"Penny, you're my best friend."..._

 _..._

 _"Better luck next time."..._

 _..._

 _"312, that's my count."..._

 _..._

 _"About to be 314."..._

 _..._

"No!" Epsilon shot up, breathing heavily, even though he didn't need to breath, fear plaguing his mind. After several moments of recomposing himself, Epsilon slowly looked around the room that he didn't recognise. The walls were bare wood brown, with a door to the far left. To the left of the wall he was leaning against, he saw the window and the darkness outside. Clearly it was late. What caught his attention was his sister, lying asleep and snoring lightly, apparently not awoken by his previous outburst.

When Epsilon moved to get off the bed, he froze. Penny. He remembered. The only other AI in existence, besides himself and his brother, was destroyed. She meant the world to Epsilon, she meant more to him than his creator or his master. And she was _dead_. By Pyrrha's hand. Maybe it was an accident, but there was no way Pyrrha could have known Penny was an android too, could she? That is the last thing he remembered, reaching the Amity Colosseum and holding Penny's dismembered and deactivated body, overwhelmed by negative emotions, but unable to let loose a tear. He shook his head, pushing those thoughts back. He needed to know what happened after Penny died.

Epsilon slowly and carefully leapt off the edge of the bed and walked over to Yang, a small smile on his face, happy to see her again after so long. But when he got a closer look, his smile disappeared and instead turned into a horrified expression. He had no idea what happened to Yang or the rest of anyone at Beacon the night it fell, so to see Yang, his strong and powerful sister, with a missing right arm and a pained expression as she slept scared Epsilon more than anything he had seen before. Carefully, he reached down and moved a bit of hair covering her face, and saw how bad she looked. Not physically damaged, but mentally damage that he could see in her face. Clearly she had taken a huge blow on the night Beacon fell, and Epsilon couldn't even imagine what it was.

He turned away, covering his mouth as he trembled in fear. It was like he was in a nightmare, the person he cared most about broken and beaten to _this_ , and the rest? He had no idea. They could be dead. He quickly shook his head. He couldn't think like that, he had to have hope that Ruby, Weiss, Blake, JNPR, SSSN, Ozpin and the rest were all alive and well. Epsilon sighed, walking over and leaning his forehead on the door frame.

 _What the hell happened at Beacon?_

"Epsilon..." He turned to Yang, who was whimpering slightly in her sleep, whispering his name. "Epsilon...help..."

"Shh." Epsilon whispered, holding onto her head lightly, stroking the hair. "It's okay, I'm back. Yang, I'm going to fix this, I promise." As if she had heard him, Yang calmed down and stayed in a more peaceful state. Epsilon removed his hand from her head and opened her bedroom door, sparing one last glance, and exited. He reached the front door and walked outside, closing the door behind him and looked up at the cracked moon.

All he could think about is what he didn't know. What happened to Yang? What happened to Beacon? Did Vale survive? What happened to his brother? What happened to Ruby? Weiss? Blake? JNPR? SSSN? Ozpin?

Cinder?

He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes. He's been deactivated for several weeks, thinking about his very brief life and how it's changed so drastically in a matter of months. Now, he had to figure out what happened, who did it, and why they did it.

It was time to Hunt the Truth.

* * *

 **End of Chapter One**

* * *

 **So, the start of my new story, a different story to my previous ones. But firstly, some things to take into account.**

 **1) This story is a sequel, specifically to "Almost One of a Kind", and also "A Special Semblance". However, I will try to make this as easy as possible to read without reading them, but I recommend you do.**

 **2) This story will cover the events of RWBY Volume 1, 2, 3 and the trailers, with Epsilon returning to significant locations to try and figure out what has happened.**

 **3) The story is OC centred, but Yang and Ruby will still be important to the plot. Taiyang will appear more too, and maybe Qrow, but not the rest of RWBY or any others.**

 **That about covers it, if you liked what you read, leave a review and make sure to follow and favourite, and keep an eye out for the next chapter!**


	2. Coming to Terms

**Chapter Two - Coming to Terms**

 **(22 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **07:15**

* * *

Epsilon walked over to the kitchen sink, turning on the hot water, letting it run for a few seconds until it was hot enough and washed the black blood off his face and arms, the black blood draining down the sink. After a minute, he turned off the tap and dried himself off, went into the cupboard and grabbed some cereal, and some milk from the fridge and made some breakfast, sitting down at the table and eating, while thinking to himself.

Why wasn't his scroll working? He tired to access it hours before but no signal came through, despite multiple attempts at refreshing and restarting his scroll, it wouldn't work. He wanted to contact his brother, find out what happened while he was hijacked and what happened to Beacon, and Vale. Epsilon wouldn't admit it, but even though Ultra was a terrible...thing...he was still his brother, and even as a fellow AI, he could still be destroyed. Penny was proof of that. But if his scroll wasn't working, and it had happened in the past, but not for this long. Epsilon thought of the worst case scenario, the CCT tower in Vale was destroyed, but, that couldn't happen, right? What could possibly destroy the tower?

Epsilon groaned, rubbing his forehead. There was _so much_ he didn't know, it was infuriating. Epsilon sighed and finished his cereal, putting the bowl in the sink.

"Epsilon?" He turned to see Taiyang in the doorway to the kitchen, a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh...hello...we haven't met before...who are you?" Epsilon asked.

"I'm Taiyang Xiao Long, Yang and Ruby's father." He answered.

"Right! That's right, sorry, I remember now, Qrow showed me a picture of Team STRQ." Epsilon remembered, clicking his fingers.

"You're awake." Taiyang told him.

"Yeah, I am, very observant." Epsilon muttered sarcastically.

"Do you...know what's happened?" Taiyang asked.

"No, the last thing I remember was holding onto Penny's body, and I kind of blacked out, and woke up here about seven hours ago." Epsilon explained. "How long was I out? A couple of days?"

"Epsilon, you've been out for over three _weeks_ , we were getting worried you might never wake up." Taiyang explained, sitting down at the table.

"Three weeks? Damn..." Epsilon rubbed his head, sitting down opposite Taiyang. "Look, I know that you must have questions, but I have to know, why isn't the CCT working? I've been trying to contact my brother-"

"The tower was destroyed. A giant Grimm Dragon flew right into it, tore the clockwork and Ozpin's office apart. Now, that Grimm is stuck up there, frozen." Taiyang explained to Epsilon.

"Holy fuck, a Grimm _Dragon_!? And the tower is gone, how are people communicating?" Epsilon asked hastily.

"They're not, it's all assumptions right now, the other kingdoms are blaming Atlas for having their robots attack Vale-"

"Makes sense, they were hijacked just like I was." Epsilon noted.

"-and now without communication, all the kingdoms are confused and afraid, basically baiting the Grimm to their borders." Taiyang finished.

"Okay...okay...giant Grimm Dragon destroys CCT, now frozen there, Atlas is blamed and the world in in chaos. Right, what about the others? Ruby?" Epsilon asked worryingly.

"Ruby's fine, she was unconscious at the base of the tower, David and Qrow got her out." Taiyang assured, Epsilon sighing in relief.

"Wait, David, he came back?" Epsilon asked, getting more and more confused.

"Yeah, he killed a lot of Grimm, probably helped save Vale from a total loss. There's a safe zone set up, and a lot of people made it out, but unfortunately not everyone." Taiyang said sadly.

"Wait...who?" Epsilon asked cautiously.

"It's best if you talk to Ruby and Yang, they were there and can tell you what happened." Taiyang told him. "I'm going to make them some breakfast, can you go wake them up?"

"Sure thing." Epsilon complied, getting up to leave. "And hey, thanks for letting me stay while I slept, I hope I wasn't an inconvenience."

"It's fine Epsilon, you might have been the only thing that Yang paid attention to when she came back." Taiyang told Epsilon, who shuddered, remembering her missing right arm. "And you took the name Xiao Long when you were made, and you protected my daughters at Beacon. As far as I'm concerned, you're family too."

"Wow, I-I can't thank you enough, I was afraid that you'd be less accepting of me because...you know-"

"You're an AI? You have aura, and a soul, you're still a person in my eyes, metal being or not." Taiyang told him.

 _"You're not like those things we saw back there." Ruby told Penny. "You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!"_

Epsilon shook his head. What was that?

"Hey, you okay?" Taiyang asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." Epsilon lied. "I'll see you later." Epsilon exited the kitchen and knocked on the door he exited earlier, knowing it was Yang's room. No response came. He opened the door to see Yang looking at the sunrise out of the window. She was wearing a dark yellow short sleeves shirt and black shorts. "Yang?"

Yang visibly tensed when she heard her name, and turned to Epsilon, a shocked expression on her face.

"Epsilon?" Yang whispered, almost not believing what she saw. Epsilon saw down on the bed next to her, and before he could say a word, she wrapped her left arm around him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, feeling tests fall on his shoulder. "I thought I lost you."

"Lost faith in me that quickly, huh?" Epsilon joked.

"Epsilon, three weeks. _Three_. _Weeks_. Epsilon, I thought you were dead, you don't exactly have a pulse. I had you sitting at the base of my bed so I could keep an eye on you at all times." Yang explained, letting go of him and wiping her tears.

"Yang, I know this will be hard, but I need to know what happened the night Penny died." Epsilon told her.

"You don't...remember anything?" Yang asked.

"I was hijacked, I don't remember anything I did, or what happened, that night." Epsilon explained.

"Epsilon...you killed 312 people that night." Yang told him. Epsilon froze, eyes widening in complete horror.

"I-I-I _killed_ people?" Epsilon couldn't believe it.

"Ultra told me before he left, and you told him when you were about to kill Jaune...and Pyrrha." Yang told Epsilon.

"Oh my god." Epsilon whispered, putting his face in his hands. 312 people. They were _dead_ because of Epsilon. Epsilon and his _stupidity_. He should have noticed there was a bug in the system, he was a goddamn AI, he watched Cinder as she fought Ruby after implanting the bug, and he just entered the system without a care in the world. He should have _known_ there was something seriously wrong with the CCT, he should have said something. Detected something. Why was he so useless!?

"Epsilon?" Yang asked, shaking him a little.

"Huh? Sorry. That's a lot to take in." Epsilon told her, rubbing his eyes, and looked at her bandaged arm. Or lack there of. "Yang, what the fuck happened to your arm?"

"The White Fang happened." Yang answered grimly, all previous signs of positive emotion washed away. "I was at the cafeteria, all the glass was broken and it was on fire. Blake was fighting a faunus, a bull faunus with a red sword."

"Adam Taurus." Epsilon knew who he was.

"H-He stabbed Blake in the stomach, I just, I got so angry. I screamed and swung at him...and then a woke up here. He sliced my arm off, Epsilon." Yang finished, quietly crying. Epsilon shuffled closer and hugged her, patting her on the back lightly. "And Blake- And Blake just _ran_ again, without a word. And Weiss was taken away by her father, and we can't even talk, can't even tell me if she's fine. B-But Blake...Why did she leave me?" Yang cried more.

"Shh." Epsilon told her, calming her down as she cried onto his shoulder more, dampening it. After a few minutes, Yang breathed heavily and let go, eyes red from tears, not anger. She wiped away the tears, calming her breathing again. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop that. It was my job to protect you."

"You couldn't help it. I don't blame you for something you couldn't change." Yang assured him. "I'm just glad to have my brother back."

"I appreciate it, but you still have Ruby, and you're dad." Epsilon reminded her. "Look, I know it's been a while since we've talked, and I would over nothing more than to continue, but I need to talk to Ruby about what happened." Yang sighed heavily, but nodded.

"Okay, I understand. Just...don't take too long, okay?" Yang asked.

"Got it." Epsilon assured. "Oh, and Taiyang's making breakfast, he'll bring it in soon." Yang nodded as Epsilon left. She sighed and looked out the window again, looking at the crow sitting on the tree.

Epsilon knocked on the other door, which he assumed was Ruby's room.

"Come in!" Ruby yelled, Epsilon opening the door to find Ruby getting out of bed, wearing a matching dark grey long sleeved shirt and pants with faded red polka dots and a white lining at the front and collar. Ruby turned to Epsilon, and she smiled widely. "Epsilon!" She practically leapt onto him, hugging him tightly, Epsilon shocked a little but hugged back. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Thanks Ruby." Epsilon thanked with a small smile. "How are you, I heard you fell unconscious."

"I'm all better now, I've been hunting Grimm every day to keep up with my training. Can't slack off, can I?" Ruby asked him.

"Still hunting Grimm, even after what happened to Beacon. Good girl." Epsilon complimented, Ruby blushing at the compliment, muttering at him. "Ruby...we need to talk, it's probably best if we sit."

"Oh, okay." Ruby said, sitting down on her bed, Epsilon sitting on the opposing bed.

"Who's bed is this? Yang's?" Epsilon asked.

"Yeah, it is. We always shared a room." Ruby told him.

"Then why-"

"Is she in the guest room? She needed time to recover, still does." Ruby answered, lowering her head slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Epsilon told Ruby.

"It's okay. So...what is it?" Ruby asked, crossing her legs on her bed.

"Taiyang told me that you were unconscious at the top of the CCT tower, and David and Qrow got you out. What happened up there?" Epsilon asked. Ruby's smile faltered a little, and she took a deep breath.

"Jaune and Pyrrha were at the tower when Cinder made her way to the top. Pyrrha sent Jaune away in a locker and she went to fight her on her own. Jaune contacted me and Weiss to stop her, and we made our way there. But...when I reached the top, Cinder shot Pyrrha in the chest. I-I watched Pyrrha turn to ash before me. And after that, I remember my head hurting, and a white light. Then...I woke up here." Ruby explained to Epsilon, who slowly took it in.

"First Penny...now Pyrrha...did anyone else die?" Epsilon asked her.

"Roman Torchwick. Me and Ultra fought him and Neo on one of Atlas' Airships, Neo flew off the ship, but I think she's still alive. When Torchwick was about to kill me, Ultra put a machete in his chest, and fed him to a Griffon. That's the last I saw of Ultra, but I know he survived." Ruby told him.

"Stuff really went down, didn't it?" Epsilon asked her, and she nodded. "But, how did you get away from Cinder?"

"Well, have you heard of the Silver Eyed warriors?" Ruby asked Epsilon, almost excited.

"Vaguely, fairy tales about them." Epsilon informed Ruby.

"Well, according to David, I froze the Grimm Dragon with my Silver Eyed abilities, and now it still clings to the CCT." Ruby said.

"Wait, you have abilities?" Epsilon asked Ruby.

"Yep. I don't really know what they can do yet, but David told me that the Grimm feared them, and that my mother was one too." Ruby explained. Epsilon sighed and looked at the floor. "Epsilon?"

"This all happened in one night? All this death, destruction, fear, everything that happened was caused by Cinder?" Epsilon asked her.

"Yeah...why?" Ruby asked him, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"That's exactly it, Ruby. 'Why'. We know who did it, what they did, when it happened, where it happened and how it happened. But why did they do it? What was their motivation?" Epsilon asked rhetorically.

"I-I don't know." Ruby answered.

"It was rhetorical, Ruby." Epsilon told her. "Ruby, this goes way back, all the way back to the day you stopped Roman at that dust shop. Cinder and her group decided to destroy Beacon and cripple Vale, and leave the rest of Remnant in fear and confusion. I know what you know, Yang know and Taiyang know, but that's only a glimpse at what has really happened, and why."

"So...what now?" Ruby asked Epsilon.

"I'm going back to the source, where everything began, and I'm going to find out why Beacon fell, and find those responsible." Epsilon told her, and she nodded. Epsilon was going to bring justice to Yang, for losing her arm, to Penny and Pyrrha for their deaths

"I have to go back to Beacon."

* * *

 **End of Chapter Two**

* * *

 **Right, so this chapter is purely Epsilon catching up on the events of the Volume 3 finale of RWBY, and his perspective on the events. The thing about Epsilon is he is completely unaware of anything that happened, and after three weeks, he can't even find out about the repercussions because the CCT is down. Next chapter, Epsilon will return to Beacon, forcing his way past an army of Grimm to find clues. Additionally, an enemy will appear next chapter, who will be reappearing throughout the story as a conflict to Epsilon, but more on that next chapter.**

 **If you liked what you read, leave a review and don't forget to follow and favourite, and I'll see you all in**

 **Chapter Three: Welcome back to Beacon...Again**


	3. Welcome back to Beacon, Again

**Chapter Three -** **Welcome back to Beacon...Again**

 **(22 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **09:00**

* * *

Epsilon finished drying himself after his shower and got changed into his regular combat outfit: a yellow T-Shirt, black jeans, black belt, black boots with the miniature jets inside, his black right hand fingerless glove and wrist power receiver, to tell him how much power he has left. Epsilon stretched and exited the bathroom and entered the guest room where Yang sat in bed, Ruby with her.

"All done?" Ruby asked him.

"Almost, just one more thing." Epsilon told her, and opened Yang's draw, pulling out a brown bandana, tying it around his neck. "There are bad people still out there who will kill me on sight, and people still kind of hate me for 'breaking' Mercury's leg. This can just help me blend in a bit more."

"Oh, okay. So what now?" Ruby asked Epsilon, swinging her legs a little.

"I've set up a visual receiver in both of your scrolls, you can see what I see. Try it." Epsilon told them. They pulled out their scrolls and looked at the screen, and saw themselves from Epsilon's perspective.

"Why do we need this?" Yang asked.

"You can help me when I'm searching and point out things I might miss. I'll be able to hear you through your scrolls." Epsilon explained, sighed and looked at his watch, 100% power. "It'll take a few hours to fly to Beacon."

"Good luck." Ruby wished him. "Oh, and if you get a chance, can you go to our dorm, there was some stuff we left there."

"I'll try." Epsilon assured her.

"Keep safe." Yang told him.

"I will." Epsilon nodded to them and exited the room. He walked down the corridor and out of the house, looking at the rising sun in the clear sky. In the far distance, he could see Vale, and he could just barely see Beacon. Epsilon clicked his neck and took off running, jumped up and his boots activated, and flew towards Beacon Academy for answers.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **12:00**

* * *

Epsilon looked down as he flew around Beacon, spotting thousands of Grimm down below, off various ages, types and sizes. They slowly walked up the path and towards the CCT, or what was left of it, with the massive Grimm Dragon stations at the top, still frozen in place. Epsilon saw the top of the CCT ripped off, the gears scarred at the floor at the bottom of the tower, a few fragments still at the base of the tower.

"Are you getting visual?" Epsilon asked.

*Yep, crystal clear.* Ruby answered, adding a pop with the 'p'.

*Yes.* Yang answered.

He glanced at his power reserves, which has at 80%. Epsilon flew over to the tower and landed, skidding to a halt. He turned around and looked at the Dragon, which breathed heavily and glared at Epsilon, but unable to move. He approached the Dragon and looked at it.

"Are you seeing this?" Epsilon asked.

*It looks old. How old do you reckon it is?* Ruby asked.

"No idea. You said it came out of the Mountain?" Epsilon asked them.

*Yeah, just after I landed on the airship. It flew around for a while before landing at Beacon. It made me feel cold when it flew by.* Ruby told him, a shudder in her voice.

"I wonder why it came here?" Epsilon asked himself, looking at the Dragon's white bone plating on it's head. He turned away, a sinking feeling in his stomach the longer he looked at it. Epsilon walked over to Ozpin's desk, tapping the desk and three holographic monitors activated.

At least this still worked.

He plugged his scroll into the desk and started scanning his files for information on Cinder Fall, Roman Torchwick and known associates. He opened a file with all of the contestants of the Vytal Tournament, and found Cinder's team, comprising of Cinder herself, Mercury, Emerald, and Neopolitan in a drastically altered outfit. The team name didn't display, but he imagined what it was. Epsilon now had her knows associates.

He searched the incident report of the Breach in Vale and the people who arrested Torchwick were none other than Mercury and Emerald. Epsilon groaned and slammed his head on the table. Roman Torchwick being arrested was a set up, they had planned it months beforehand and it all worked out. Two Airships full of Atlas soldiers were killed when Torchwick hijacked one, and all of the crew were killed by Neopolitan. So much unnecessary death.

Epsilon was about to remove his scroll, but spotted a file, a message, left by Ozpin and addressed for Epsilon, the date created was mere moments after he was hijacked. He added the file to his scroll and removed it, his work done.

"Got everything I need." Epsilon told them.

*Good work, Epsilon. Now...our dorm, if you have time?* Ruby asked hopefully.

"Sure thing." Epsilon said with a smile. He looked at his watch, 77%, he had just enough to fly back to Patch, so he had to get to the dorm on foot. He walked along Ozpin's office to the elevator, but stopped when he saw something shiny on the floor. He knelt down and picked it up: a bronze circlet headpiece, with two chains on the side with two small Emeralds. Epsilon held the last piece of Pyrrha Nikos after her death at the hands of Cinder. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a moment to pay his respects to her, and attached the circlet to his belt, and walked over to the elevator, a person sides hole in the floor. He hopped down the hole and fell down the tower, falling for several seconds and took his right dagger out of his wrist, stabbing it into the side of the wall and slowing himself down to a halt right at the ground floor. Epsilon vaulted off the wall and landed at the base of the base of the tower, coming face to face with half a dozen Beowolves.

Epsilon rolled out of the way as one lunged at him, flipped his dagger into a pistol and shot the Beowolf in the back of the head, killing it. He aimed and shot five more, killing the five Beowolves as they started decaying into black smoke. Epsilon glanced at the door to exit the tower and heard the sound of many Grimm heading his way, undoubtedly hearing the gunshots. He sprinted out of the tower and saw an army of Grimm approaching, thousands upon thousands of them. He had never seen so many at once.

*Epsilon run!*

Without a second thought, Epsilon sprinted towards the dorm section of the campus, using the jets in his boots to propel him faster as he steadily got further away from the Grimm. He ran into the dorm building and slammed the doors shut as dozens of Grimm pressed up against the door, desperate to kill him. Epsilon raised his pistol and shot the centre of the double doors, melting the metal and forcing the doors together. He sighed and ran over to the staircase, looking up as he realised he had dozens of flights of stairs to climb.

"Damn it." He muttered annoyingly, and ran as fast as he could up the stairs as the Grimm continued to beat on the door. Several minutes later, Epsilon reached the floor he needed to be on and ran along the corridor and reached Team RWBY's form room. He opened the door with his scroll and entered the room, closing it behind him. He got hit by nostalgia when he looked around the room, more specifically Ruby's crazy idea for bunk beds, which surprised him as they still remained hanging from day one. "Anything in particular I'm looking for?"

*There's a picture under my pillow, can you get it?* Ruby asked him. He got up on the bedside table and moved the blanket hanging above Ruby's bed and reached under the pillow. He pulled out a picture and smiled at it. It was Team RWBY, sometime before he was created. They were in the dorm room, Yang was smiling widely with her arms around her teammates, her left around Blake's neck, who was trying to pull away, and her right around Ruby's shoulder, who was grinning, with Weiss crushed between Ruby and Yang, trying to escape. Epsilon chuckled a little and pocketed the photo.

"Anything else?" Epsilon asked.

*No, I think that's it.* Ruby told him.

"Yang?"

*No.* She answered simply. Epsilon sighed and walked over to the window, his work done. He leapt out of the window and flew back to Patch, flying over the destroyed cafeteria.

Unaware to Epsilon, a woman with black hair and amber eyes watched him fly away. She walked through the cafeteria and over to a dismembered arm, one half of Ember Celica attached. She removed the gauntlet and threw the arm away, pocketing the gauntlet and walked away.

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **23:00**

* * *

Epsilon scrolled through his scroll, lying in Yang's bed as Ruby slept across from him, snoring lightly. After reading through all of the files, a few leads to go on, he opened Ozpin's message to him.

 _Epsilon, if you are reading this, you have made your way back to Beacon Academy to retrieve information of this tragic event. I have compiled all of the data I have on Cinder Fall and her associates into files you have likely already searched, but am afraid I can help no further. Cinder has come to kill the Fall Maiden, and if you're reading this, then she most likely succeeded and I am most likely dead, and Beacon Academy has fallen. I trust few people, Epsilon, but I do not hesitate to say that you are one of the few I trust wholeheartedly about some of my most secret secrets._

 _For you see, Cinder Fall is not the mastermind behind this, the assassination of the Fall Maiden and the Fall of Beacon, but she is a mere pawn in a much larger plan, created by a being called "Salem". My knowledge of her is minimal, but I do know there are more pawns out there, some that are dangerous, some that are more than dangerous. If I were you, but unfortunately I'm not, I would take a closer look at what you've found, and be more observant for what you are looking for._

 _Good luck, and stay alive._

 _Ozpin._

* * *

 **End of Chapter Three**

* * *

 **Replies to Reviews:**

 **TheOtherSanics: Thank you for the compliment, and I hope that the story ends up improving throughout. Thanks for Reviewing!**

 **Creeperscrafterx10: Yeah, that's just a thing I said in the last story with Epsilon. Basically, Epsilon is considered a member of Team RWBY by the team, but they are still officially called "Team RWBY", so Epsilon is technically team less. He is officially an unofficial member of Team RWBY, since he is the first one to join, but he isn't official because teams are always four people (as far as we know). Thanks for Reviewing!**

* * *

 **Hey, so chapter three is out, as you've read. I apologise for the lateness of the update, I have literally watched Stranger Things for the first time, watching them all at once and three more times, because the show is incredible. Literally, as I write this, Season 2 just got announced, so WOO HOO! Also, I spent three days writing a 32000 semi-descriptive plot for a future story that I am seriously excited to write, and as far as I'm concerned, will only get longer before it's written.**

 **Right, back on track, sorry for the lateness and shortness, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and keep an eye out for...**

 **Chapter Four: Black and Yellow**


	4. Black and Yellow

**Chapter Four - Black and Yellow**

 **(24 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **10:00**

* * *

"So, what did you find?" Ruby asked Epsilon, as they sat opposite each other on either sides of the kitchen table. Epsilon had spent the last 24 hours checking, and double checking, through all of the files he could obtain on Cinder, her associates and her plans to attack Vale.

"Well, I found her knows associates, some we know, a couple we don't." Epsilon told Ruby, and showed her his scroll. "This is Cinder Fall, according to this, she attacked a woman not long before you started at Beacon called 'Amber', who was the 'Fall Maiden', but failed to kill her due to an intervention by David and Qrow. She came back and finished the job, which is partially how she managed to defeat Pyrrha. I didn't see her when I went back to Beacon, so she might have escaped after you went all silver-eyes on her and the dragon."

"Got it." Ruby understood with a small nod.

"Next up we have Emerald Sustrai, she was a 'street rat' that Cinder took under her wing with the promise that she'd never go hungry again." Epsilon told Ruby, moving onto the next file "From what I could gather, Emerald almost sees Cinder as an older sister or even motherly figure, so has strong loyalty to her. According to this, her semblance causes illusions, which is why you saw me attack Mercury, and she tricked Pyrrha into accidentally killing Penny. Current status is unknown."

"So she's dangerous to fight physically and mentally? That's not good." Ruby noted.

"Agreed."Epsilon agreed, and moved over to the next file. "Mercury Black, son of Marcus Black, who from what I can gather, was killed by Mercury himself. Whether it was self defence, or Mercury was sick of an abusive father, I don't know. Cinder and Emerald came across him when looking for Marcus, and chose to take him with them. He has prosthetic legs, which is why when I stabbed his leg, there was no blood. His current status is unknown."

"So he was faking it when he cried about his leg? That's just sick." Ruby muttered angrily.

"Now we have your old friend, Roman Torchwick." Epsilon reintroduced Roman, moving onto his file. "He was a common criminal, stealing large amounts of dust for Cinder, for reasons I'm not sure of, and was kept remotely in the dark about her plan. It seems him getting arrested was planned all along, so he could take control of that air ship. But, now, after being stabbed in the chest by my brother, and swallowed by a Griffon, and exploded, I'm pretty sure he's dead."

"I still don't know what he meant. What did he have to loose?" Ruby thought out loud, rubbing her head.

"Now the enigma, Neopolitan." Epsilon moved to the next file. "Not much is know about her, except what David told us about their history. She seems to be like a henchman to Roman, but now that he's dead, I don't know what she'll do, but I imagine she's pretty mad at you for helping kill Roman. Current status is assumed to be active."

"So what your saying is I should keep aware of her, and not take any chances with her?"

"Pretty much." Epsilon told her, and moved onto the next file. "Next we have Adam Taurus, a major member of the White Fang, and Blake's old partner. Cinder approached him to help her, but he initially refused to help a human. She forced him to side with her, so that's how the White Fang got involved. As we know...he was the one who disarmed Yang, and tried to kill Blake, both of which would be dead if it weren't for David. Current status is unknown, but assuming he survived all the Grimm, he's still out there."

"Blake was right, he is a monster." Ruby shuddered in discomfort.

"And now, we have the unknowns: Reginald Gordon and Frostbite." Epsilon told her. "Apparently, Reginald has been an associate with Cinder for longer than the rest, and has had many dealings with David in the past. More recently, he was the man who kidnapped me, and tortured me to get Ultra. He created a device that amplified semblances, which is how Emerald changed everyone's perception of how I attacked Mercury, making it look like I attacked without reason."

"She altered the entire Colosseum? What about the video feed?" Ruby asked.

"It's not difficult to change the video source to something else. Reginald might have made a false video of someone looking like me attacking someone who looked like Mercury, the video feed was blurry anyways, and made it look like I attacked Mercury." Epsilon explained to her. "And Frostbite, it just says he was the one who gave Emerald the device. Nothing else is known about him, but judging by his name, I'd assume he has something to do with ice."

"Sounds more like a code name than a real one." Ruby noted.

"Agreed." Epsilon agreed.

"So...what now? Where are you going to search next?" Ruby asked Epsilon.

"Before I was made, Blake ran away when you, Weiss and Yang found out she was a faunus, and she, Sun and David ended up fighting Torchwick at the Vale Docks. I don't think it was a coincidence that they stumbled onto it, and I think there is something there that the police may have missed, another lead hopefully." Epsilon told Ruby. "So my next stop is Vale Docks."

* * *

 **Vale Docks**

 **18:00**

* * *

Epsilon descended down to the floor of the docks and landed with a thud, quickly surveying the area. No Grimm. No White Fang. Nothing. The dull grey docks, paired with the setting sun, made the area gloomy and emotionless. It seems the aftermath of the Fall of Beacon has effected the local area, along with the people who survived it. Epsilon wasted no time and approached a shipping container with the Schnee Dust Company emblem printed on the side. From what he was aware of, most of the shipping containers that were dropped off at the end of the first semester were abandoned by the White Fang, and recalled by the Schnee Dust Company, but some were left behind due to time constraints. With the Fall of Beacon, it wasn't a priority.

Epsilon reached the door of one of the containers and unlocked the large door, pulling it opened as it squeaked and creaked until he stopped pulling, looking inside. Thousands of Dust crystals and tonnes of dust powder sat inside the container, Epsilon picked up a large fire dust crystal, tossing it lightly in his hand. Why did the White Fang need so much dust? Were they stockpiling it for war? Were they hiding it so other's couldn't use it? It was a mined, and limited, source that we used. He shook his head, dismissing the thoughts, and pocketed the crystal. Never know when it'll come in handy. Epsilon exited the shipping container, closing and locking the door behind him and walked over to the nearby warehouse.

Epsilon walked in to find the glass panes above covered and the lights were on to provide the light. The warehouse was almost completely empty, the workers here obviously had no time to move the dust containers from out here to in here. Epsilon approached a table to the right side of the room and searched it, finding a clip board with shipping manifests on them. He searched through them, most of the orders being for dust shops located around the city, but stopped at one. This location wasn't a dust shop, but what Epsilon believed to be the place where Blake, Sun and David infiltrated to find information on the White Fang the night before he was activated. It made sense to him, the location was large, empty, and even housed a prototype Atlesian Paladin, which would need a large amount of dust to power.

Satisfied, Epsilon ripped the manifest so nobody could follow, and proceeded to leave the warehouse. However, as he approached the doors, they slammed shut, locking from the outside. The lights suddenly went out, shrouding him in darkness. Epsilon looked around the warehouse, his artificial eyes able to see in the dark, although not nearly as well as in the light. He activated thermal, someone else was here, and they knew he was coming, but how? Ruby, Yang or Taiyang wouldn't betray him, would they? No, Epsilon shook his head, he couldn't think like that. Epsilon looked around for the assailant, nothing coming up on thermals.

A soft thud sounded behind him, Epsilon turned and took out his pistols and aimed them at the person. He couldn't see her clearly, but she clearly stood around his height, had black hair that covered one eye, and her eyes were amber in colour.

It couldn't be her, could it?

Cinder?

Before he had a chance to react, she charged and spun int he air, kicking him across the warehouse floor, swiftly landing on the ground. Epsilon rolled backwards to his feet and fired his pistols at her, which she flipped out of the way, even kicking some of the bolts and shattering them. Epsilon transformed the pistols into daggers and attempted to run past her, but she jumped and kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him back down, again landing swiftly on the ground. Epsilon growled in anger and got up, swinging his daggers at her, which she expertly dodged and redirected away from her. She leapt up and onto his shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck, and forced herself backwards, dragging Epsilon with her. Her hands touched the ground and she back flipped, kicking Epsilon off her and sent him skidding across the floor.

Epsilon got back up and fired his right pistol at her. She ran towards him, skidding and flipping out of the way, and even stopping bolts with her bare hands. SHe reached him and flipped upwards, kicking him in the face and slicing open his face partially, from his right cheek, over his right eye and up to his forehead. Epsilon landed several feet back, quickly getting back up to his feet. He needed to leave, he was at the disadvantage. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the red dust crystal.

 _"End of the line, Red!" Roman yelled, and threw a fire dust crystal at Ruby. He pointed Melodic Cudgel at the crystal and fired, making a large fire explosion, shrouding Ruby in red._

Epsilon shook his head. What was that? He ignored t and threw the dust crystal at her, which landed at her feet, and he shot it, making a large fire explosion, shrouding her in red. Epsilon took the opportunity and kicked off the ground, activating the jets in his boots, and burst through the roof of the warehouse. The smoke cleared and she looked up at the roof. She narrowed her eyes and walked away.

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **22:00**

* * *

Ruby carefully sprayed the skin regrowth on Epsilon's face, the spray quickly fixing the scar that had previously been made on him. Ruby lowered the can and smiled a little.

"Good as new!" She told him.

"Thanks." Epsilon thanked her. Ruby noticed something was off with him.

"What's the matter?" Ruby asked him. Epsilon sighed.

"Do you remember my first fight? The duel I had with Pyrrha?" Epsilon asked, Ruby nodding. "Well, I almost beat her, and probably would have if it wasn't for her semblance, but to almost defeat Pyrrha was a big accomplishment that people recognised. Ruby, I thought a woman at the docks, and I couldn't land a substantial hit. She dodged every shot, every swing, and just stopped bolts when they hit her. I just, how?"

"Who was she?" Ruby asked him.

"I think it was Cinder."

* * *

 **End of Chapter Four**

* * *

 **Hey everyone, I'm back again for another chapter. I'm sorry for the delay, I guess I could say I had a bit of writers block, but honestly this chapter was written quite smoothly I think, I hope it's the same for the readers. I've been writing chapters for a future story, which I am _very_ excited about, I've never pre-written chapters for a story before, but this upcoming one is such a joy to write.**

 **So, Epsilon has officially had his ass handed to him in battle by a woman he thinks is Cinder. How will he react? Who was she? Was she actually Cinder, or someone worse?**

 **Find out soon.**

 **And, as always, remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and I'll see you all in...**

 **Chapter Five: The Town is Painted**


	5. The Town is Painted, Part 1

**Chapter Five - The Town is Painted, Part 1**

 **(28 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **18:00**

* * *

Yang sat silently in her bed, looking outside with a thousand mile stare, but still looked as if she was looking at nothing. The weather outside started to look colder, snow would likely be coming around soon, but Yang wasn't concerned. This house had survive many winters, it could survive another. Yang glanced to the side as the bedroom door knocked, Epsilon quietly entered, closing the door behind him, and leant against the wall. Epsilon knew he had to be patient with Yang, so he waited for her to speak up first. Yang sighed and looked back outside, thinking of her options: she could ignore him, he'd hopefully go away, and she could stay in bed, in peace. Or, she could converse with him, and help him as he followed a trail of breadcrumbs to the unknown.

"What is it?" Yang asked, turning to Epsilon. Epsilon smiled a little and got off the wall, sitting down on her bed.

"My trip to the Vale Docks has led me to a bunker in Vale which the White Fang previously used for a rally that Blake, Sun and David went to to tr and get information on the White Fang." Epsilon explained.

"How do you know about that? You weren't there." Yang stated. Epsilon shuffled nervously.

"I-It doesn't matter. I'm heading there later, but first, I want to find information on the woman I fought at the docks, and there's a certain man who you know that knows everything that goes on in Vale." Epsilon continued. Yang chuckled drily.

"Junior? Trust me, you'd get better information if you asked a brick wall. That guy's useless." Yang informed Epsilon.

"Maybe, but do you have another option?" Epsilon asked her. Yang huffed, turning away from him. She had no others.

"What's it got to do with me anyway? You can handle this on your own." Yang stated, looking out the window.

"I need your help this time. Junior knows you, how intimidating you are, even with your...disability. Once we've talked to him, I'll go check out the White Fang bunker while you stay in the club, safe. I'll come back for you afterwards." Epsilon explained to her.

"...What's the point?" Yang asked sadly.

"What do you mean?" Epsilon asked her.

"'What do you mean?'" Yang repeated angrily, clenching her fist. " _'What do you mean'_?! Your stupid truth hunt is getting us nothing! Don't you get it, Epsilon!? Your truth hunt is nothing but a waste of time, putting yourself in unnecessary danger!"

"Yang-"

"No! You don't get it! You weren't _there_ that night! You're body might have, but your mind was gone, you didn't experience the _horrors_ that night! Penny's dead! Pyrrha's dead! Everything's gone to shit! Your stupid truth hunt is just a _fucking_ waste of time!" Yang screamed, and tears started coming to her eyes. "I-I-I don't want you to die...like Penny...like Pyrrha...I've lost too much, Epsilon. I-I _can't_ lose you too." Epsilon took Yang's hand, holding it tightly.

"Yang, I'm doing this _for_ them. So Penny, Pyrrha, everyone who was lost and damaged on that night, they won't be lost for nothing. I can't bring them back, but I can sure as hell avenge them, but I'm just one man...or machine...I can't do this alone. I wasn't there that night, if I wasn't, maybe things would be different, maybe Pyrrha could still be alive, maybe Beacon would still be there. Maybe you'd still have both arms." Yang flinched, sniffling away her tears. "Yang, I'm doing this so we can have closure, so we know what happened, and why, and so you can beat the shit out of the people who did this." Epsilon finished, getting to his feet. "Are you up for this, Yang?"

Yang remained silent, taking in everything Epsilon had said. She glanced at her right elbow, where her right arm once remained. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"...When do we leave?"

* * *

 **Downtown Vale**

 **22:00**

* * *

Epsilon revved the engine of Bumblebee, Yang sitting behind him, her arm wrapped around his chest. She wore a different outfit to what she usually wore, Yang now wore an orange tank top with a grey jacket, the right sleeve tied up, indicating her missing arm, along with grey cargo pants and white sneakers. A patch of her emblem was stitched onto her left arm, with a bumblebee patch stitched onto her right leg. One half of Ember Celica was firmly attached to her left wrist. Epsilon turned a corner and stopped the motorcycle outside Junior's Club, himself and Yang getting off Bumblebee. Epsilon turned to Yang, who still seemed a little disputed.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Epsilon asked again. Yang sighed, and put on her signature smirk.

"Got to put on a show of confidence, eh?" Yang asked, and walked towards the bar, Epsilon just behind her. Two of Junior's men stood outside, but as soon as they saw Yang, they swiftly rushed inside, slamming the doors together.

"This happen often?" Epsilon asked her.

"Only a few times." Yang answered, looking at the large doors. "Some things never change." She walked up to the door, activated her gauntlet and slammed it into the door, forcing them open, a large amount of smoke covering the doorway. Yang strutted into the club, raising her arm joyfully. "Guess who's back!?"

A dozen guns were pointed at her face. Again.

"Hold it! Hold it! Nobody shoot!" Junior yelled from behind his goons, walking past them and straightening his tie. "Blondie? You're here...why?"

"My brother here want some answers, and you're going to give them to him." Yang told Junior, gesturing over to Epsilon. Junior paled.

"T-T-Two of you now?" He whimpered.

"Yep! Now, let's go get some drinks and talk." Yang told Junior, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him across the club. Epsilon watched with a raised eyebrow.

Some things never change.

* * *

 **Abandoned** **White Fang Bunker**

 **22:15**

* * *

The overhead lights sprung to life, illuminating the large room. Dozens of crates of dust sat around the perimeter, filled to the brim with different types of dust crystals and powders. A large stage stood at the far end of the room, which once held the notorious criminal Roman Torchwick and a prototype Atlesian Paladin, while the rest of the room was once filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of Faunus. All but two were supporters of the cult, two of the Faunus were hunters in training.

And there was one Inhuman.

But none of that mattered to the three individuals walking across the stark empty bunker. One, the black haired woman with the amber eyes, walking opposite a young man, maybe even a kid, standing no more than 5 foot tall with skin, hair and clothing all made entirely out of ice. Ahead of them walked a man in his early 40's with mid-length grey hair, black eyes, a thin, messy beard and wearing a white lab coat, with a grey collared t-shirt with a white undershirt, black trousers and smart black shoes. They reached the far right corner of the facility, reaching a metal door with a keypad. The man typed on the keypad, but it didn't accept him. The password had changed. He sighed and stood back.

"Open it."

The ice kid, raised his right arm and fired a torrent of icy mist at the door, quickly freezing it solid. The woman slammed her right fist into the door, and it flew off the frame, shattering into dozens of pieces. The man walked through the door, accompanied by his associates, and looked at what stood before him. A massive mechanised machine, identical to the advanced Paladin that was at the Battle of Beacon, but deactivated before it could do any damage. The man smirked and turned to his associates.

"Frostbite, secure the crash site. Kill any survivors." He ordered, Frostbite nodded and exited the room. The man turned to the woman. "Keep watch, I need time to set this up." He told the woman, who nodded and exited the room. The man turned to the large Paladin.

"The Inhuman is coming."

* * *

 **End of Chapter Five**

* * *

 **Replies to Reviews**

 **supergifford: Who is worse than Cinder? Well, I'd assume Salem is, and Adam is a pretty bad person. And I hate Mercury and Emerald. And Neo's a psychopath. Basically, all of the villains are as bad as each other, in my mind. Well, except Torchwick, we're cool. Thanks for Reviewing!**

* * *

 **Hey everyone, I'm back with Hunt the Truth...and this is the new shortest chapter...Look, originally, this was just going to be one chapter, but it has quite a bit of things happening in this chapter, so I decided to split this chapter into two to extend the story a little longer. As for the delay, I have recently started a new story, "Immortal Things", which is set about 13 years after this story, and focus' on the next generation of my OC's as kids. It's just began, but you should check it out. Unlike this story, I already have the next 9 chapter's pre-written, so I'm not worried about missing out with that story. But, if you're afraid of spoilers, "Immortal Things" _may_ spoil some things for the next few stories between this and that, but I'd still read it anyway.**

 **So, Epsilon has finally gotten Yang out of bed after a heart held discussion, and they're going to interrogate Junior for information. Will they get what the need? Who are the people at the abandoned bunker? Who are they expecting? Find out all in the next chapter!**

 **As always, remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and keep an eye out for the next chapter...**

 **Chapter Six: The Town is Painted, Part 2**


	6. The Town is Painted, Part 2

**Chapter Five - The Town is Painted, Part 2**

 **(28 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Junior's Club**

 **22:30**

* * *

Junior poured two more small strawberry sunrises, pushing them across the counter to Epsilon and Yang. Yang picked up hers, raising it and winking, downing the drink. Epsilon picked it up, examining the contents.

"So...why is there a little umbrella?" Epsilon asked.

"You just do, or it's not a _real_ strawberry sunrise." Yang explained, putting her glass down. Epsilon shrugged and downed the drink, putting the glass down.

"It's not bad." Epsilon stated. Yang sighed, patting him on the back.

"We'll get you there one day." Yang told him softly, in her big sister tone.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but what do you want?" Junior sighed, taking the drinks. Epsilon took out his scroll, scanning through his photo's, and showed Junior the photo.

"This girl. Who is she?" Epsilon asked. Junior sighed and picked up the scroll, taking a closer look at the girl on the screen. It was the girl Epsilon had fought at the docks, with the black hair and amber eyes.

"We think it might be Cinder, the woman who led the attack against Beacon." Yang told Junior.

"Well, it's not her." Junior stated.

"How so?" Epsilon asked him.

"Look at her legs, that's all you need to know it's not Cinder." Junior told the blondes, handing the scroll back to Epsilon. Epsilon looked closer at the photo, and he saw it. Her legs, they weren't real. Just below the knees were black metal prosthetic stumps with silver spikes, about a foot or two long, with balances to act as feet.

"She lost both her legs. That's horrible." Yang whispered.

"Yeah, those prosthetic legs aren't standard. Most people would either just have stumps with a wheelchair, or cybernetic legs. These things are incredibly hard to use, and just as rare. Nobody her age could use it unless it was from birth." Junior explained to them.

"That, and the fact that she can fight incredibly well with them too." Epsilon added. "You don't know who she is, do you?"

"'Fraid not." Junior stated easily.

"Yang." Epsilon sighed. Yang grabbed Junior by the collar, dragging him across the bar and activating her gauntlet.

"AAAAH! Okay, I'll speak! I'll speak!" Junior cried. Yang couldn't help bu laugh.

"Still got it." Yang smirked, letting go of Junior.

"So, now, let's be honest with each other. Who is she?" Epsilon demanded.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but I wasn't involved. If they find out, my head will be on a pike." Junior told them. They both nodded. "She came in here four days ago, she showed me a picture of you, and forced me to tell her where you were. I heard you were at the docks, so I told her. She left without a word." Junior told Epsilon honestly. Epsilon stepped back, shocked.

Why was she looking for him? That explains how she found him, how she knew he was at the docks, ho she managed to catch him by surprise. But why? How long has she been following him? Does she know about his investigation into the Fall of Vale, did she know he was at Beacon? Is she involved with Cinder, or worse, Salem? Epsilon rubbed his head. All these possibilities, what could and could not be, was frustrating him. He's an AI. He was meant to figure out the truth, but here he was, grasping at needles in haystacks for even clues to a single truth. Epsilon sighed and turned back to Junior.

"Do you know her name?" Epsilon asked.

"She never said a word." Junior told him.

"...Okay. Yang, you know where I'm heading, I'll come back once I'm done." Epsilon told her, and walked off. As he reached the door, Yang tugged his shoulder, stopping him.

"Epsi, what's the matter?" Yang asked quietly.

"She was looking for me, Yang. Hunting me. I don't know how much she knows. Does she know about you and Ruby? I can't put either of you in this kind of trouble. I'm certain she'll be waiting for me this time, and I'm not putting you through any more danger." Epsilon told Yang.

"If she is there, you'll need help. I can help." Yang said defensively.

"No, you can't." Epsilon told her. "Remember when you fought Neo? The tiny girl, who dodged all of your attacks, and knocked you unconscious without breaking a sweat. Heck, if it weren't for David and your mom, you'd be dead. This girl...she's more dangerous than Neo. Faster. Stronger. I can't protect you from her if you come with me."

"...Okay...I understand." Yang nodded.

"I'll be back soon, just keep you're scroll on hand in case I need anything." Epsilon told her.

"Will do." Yang told him, gave him a quick hug, and walked back over to the bar. Epsilon sighed and exited the bar, ready to continue his hunt for the truth.

* * *

 **Abandoned** **White Fang Bunker**

 **23:00**

* * *

The man flipped a large switch and it sparked at the large enhanced Paladin came to life. He grinned and walked over to it, climbing up it's left leg and into the pilots seat. The hatch closed overhead and the HUD came to life, glowing a soft red.

 _"PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME AND DESIGNATION."_ The Paladin's AI instructed.

"Reginald Gordon. Scientist." He stated.

 _"NAME AND DESIGNATION ACCEPTED. PLEASE INPUT VOICE COMMAND._ _"_ The Paladin AI instructed.

"Run programme: ECHO-PAPA-SIERRA-INDIA-LIMA-OSCAR-NOVEMBER." Reginald ordered.

 _"VOICE COMMAND AUTHORISED. INITIATING START UP PROCEDURE."_ The Paladin's AI stated. The machine started to groan loudly as the machine came to life, rising from it's deactivated stance. The weapon system came to life as the Paladin stepped off the platform, combat ready.

* * *

 **Junior's Club**

 **23:15**

* * *

Yang sipped from her drink, having already had half a dozen already, all on the house. She knew Junior was still terrified of her, despite her disability. She took out her scroll, checking the time. Epsilon should be at the abandoned bunker by now. Yang smiled a little when she saw her background, all of Team RWBY taking a group photo. Yang hugging her sister, Weiss and Blake, the latter two with looks of discomfort and disgust. Her smile faded. That's all changed now. She still had Ruby, but Weiss was in Atlas, hopefully safe, and Blake...she was just gone...

Yang looked through her photos for a good picture of her, and grabbed Junior's attention. "Hey, you haven't happened to see her around, have you?"

"You're not asking about the girl from before, right? It's still a no." Junior grunted, cleaning a glass.

"No, no, this girl is my team mate, a faunus." Yang elaborated, showing him the picture. He sighed and took a closer look.

"Hmm...I think...yeah, I've seen her." Junior told Yang.

"You have?! When?" Yang asked, perking up.

"Oh, just a day or two ago, hopping across buildings in the industrial district. Not sure why, looks like she was running from something though." Junior explained. Yang was shocked. It was _this_ easy to find her?

"I-I've got to go." Yang stuttered, quickly finishing her drink and getting up. "Thanks for the drinks."

"Thanks for not trashing the place." Junior muttered sarcastically as Yang left the club.

* * *

 **Abandoned** **White Fang Bunker**

 **23:00**

* * *

Epsilon cut the engines of his boots, landing outside the bunker. He walked up to one of the walls and saw a faded mark on the wall. He traced his index, middle and ring finger over a fainted white 'claw' mark on the wall.

 _Blake traced her index, middle and ring finger over the white claw mark on the wall. She looked over and saw an elderly faunus gesture two younger ones further into the bunker._

 _"This is it." Blake stated._

 _"You sure?" Sun asked. Blake just glared at him. "Y'know, I'm just gonna take your word for it." Blake and Sun walked further into the bunker, Blake untying her bow._

Epsilon banged his head on the wall. Why did this keep happening?! He sighed and kept walking, through a narrow corridor and right into another one, the hallway leading to the main floor of the warehouse. He quietly walked along, listening for anyone who might still be here.

A white fang mask suddenly fell in front of him, causing him to jump back in surprise. He looked straight up and saw a grill on the ventilation shaft close. He blinked and searched for life signs, looking for any traces of heat or a heartbeat.

Nothing.

Epsilon leant down, picking up the mask.

 _"I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?" Sun asked Blake, holding his white fang mask._

 _"The masks are a symbol." Blake stated. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."_

 _"Grimm masks...That's kind of dark." Sun stated awkwardly._

 _"So was the guy who started it." Blake told him, putting on her mask._

 _"Always sunshine and rainbows with you..." Sun muttered sarcastically, putting on his own mask and following Blake further into the bunker._

Epsilon dropped the mask. The white fang weren't the only monsters besides the Grimm. He walked out of the narrow hallway and found himself in a large, empty bunker, with nothing but a massive stage at the far end. He walked across the massive, stark empty floor an climbed up onto the stage, rubbing his hand across the dust that has accumulated on the floor over time. Epsilon walked across the stage, and stopped. Why were there two large spots without dust? The distance between them, the shape of the spots, it looked like...

 _SMASH!_

The wall smashed open! Epsilon was sent flying across the bunker, landing in the middle of the floor. He groaned and got to his feet, watching as the enhanced Paladin walked through the smashed wall and onto the stage, leaping down. Epsilon shot up to his feet. He was outmatched. He needed to get out.

 _"Sun! The window!"_

Epsilon turned to the window on the right, which looked fresh. Along with an entire new wall. Epsilon shot up, boosting himself and shooting through the glass, landing on the adjacent building.

 _BOOM!_

The wall exploded as the enhanced Paladin sprinted out, aiming i's weapons at Epsilon. Epsilon jumped back at a missile collided with the roof, destroying half of it. Epsilon turned and sprinted across the buildings, the Paladin in close pursuit.

* * *

 **Outside Junior's Club**

 **23:15**

* * *

Yang hopped onto her motorcycle, turning on the engine, and pulling out her scroll, quickly typing a message.

 _Epsilon, have a lead on Blake in industrial district. Going to check it out. Come join me when you're done. Yang._

Yang went to press send, but a loud explosion nearby caught her attention. She looked across the road and saw Epsilon sprinting as fast as he could towards the motorway.

"Epsilon?" Yang whispered.

Then, the massive enhanced Paladin sprinted after him, shaking the ground around it. Yang narrowed her eyes. She revved the engine and wheelied a full 180, and drove after the Paladin and Epsilon.

* * *

Epsilon leapt off the building and landed on the motorway, turning to see the Paladin land a little behind him. Epsilon kicked his jet boots into gear, propelling him across the motorway, which had several vehicles driving through, but not nearly as many as before. Epsilon jumped up and landed on a truck, turning back to the Paladin. The Paladin reached sideways and picked up a car, holding it overhead and threw it towards Epsilon.

Epsilon gasped in surprise and jumped forward, activating his jet boots. He reached out and caught the car, falling slightly from the sudden weight. Not too carefully, he put the car back down on the motorway, kicking off it and landing on another car, the Paladin dead behind him. Epsilon leapt from car to car, the Paladin shoving them aside as it chased Epsilon with a killing intent.

Epsilon looked far ahead and saw an overpass, and a sharp turn to the right. Epsilon kicked off the car, landing on another truck, and fired his pistols int he electric setting, firing them at the vision centres of the Paladin, temporarily blinding it. Epsilon shot ahead, going as fast as he could go, and flipped the pistols into daggers, burying them into the concrete pillar on the left side of the road. He leapt to the right side, waited for the Paladin to catch up, and pulled as hard as he could. The string connecting his daggers to his wrists lifted and tripped over the Paladin, which also yanked his shoulders. If he was a human, they probably would have been torn off.

The Paladin skidded across the ground and fell off the motorway, flipping and landing on the ground below. Epsilon leapt off the motorway and stood opposite it, now at even odds. But what do do?

 _"Freezerburn!" Ruby yelled._

Epsilon gasped, reaching into his pocket, and threw half a dozen ice dust crystals on the floor, he shot them and it made a giant ice plain. Epsilon shot the ice with the regular dust bullets, causing the ice to make a smoke scree. Epsilon leapt away.

The Paladin activated it's infrared tracking, slowly walking across the ice as it searched up and down, side to side, for Epsilon.

 _ZOOM!_

The Paladin spun as the smoke distorted in the distance.

 _ZOOM!_

The smoke distorted again. The Paladin fired it's main cannons, creating a dark cloud of smoke. Epsilon yelled and flew out of it, punching the Paladin in the chest and knocking it back. What next?

 _"Checkmate!" Ruby yelled._

Epsilon took out his daggers, dashing forward. He threw them sideways, striking the two legs of the Paladin, using the sting to spin and redirect the daggers into another attack at the Paladin's legs. The Paladin aimed down and fired a barrage of missiles, Epsilon jumping back to avoid. It fired another barrage of missiles at him. Epsilon switched the daggers into pistols and shot at the missiles, hitting each other before they got too close to him. Now what?

 _"Ladybug!" Ruby yelled._

Epsilon dashed forward, holding out his daggers to his sides, and ran under the Paladin, slicing it's legs. He dashed back, repeating the process. And again. And again. And again. The Paladin aimed and fired it's main cannon backward, shooting at Epsilon. Epsilon jumped up into the air, and flew towards the Paladin, slicing and taking it's right arm clean off. Epsilon landed, looking back. What now?

Yang skidded Bumblebee, leaping off it for momentum and landed on the Paladin's back.

"Yang?!" Epsilon yelled. Yang gritted her teeth and angrily punched the Paladin in the back, severely denting the roof of the mechanism. The jumped back and slammed Yang into several pillars. The Paladin spun around, raising it's fist at her as she fell.

A large blade unsheathed from the left arm, Yangs eyes widening in horror.

 _SLASH!_

The arm thrusted forward, slamming directly into Yang's stomach and sent her flying across the ground.

"YANG!" Epsilon screamed, running towards her. He grabbed her, holding her tightly as she bled heavily from her stomach. "Yang, look at me, look at me. Stay with me."

"Epsi?" Yang whispered, tears in her eyes.

"Yang." Epsilon said. Yang sighed and closed her eyes. "No." Epsilon held her wrist. "No!" Epsilon held his ear to her chest. It couldn't be.

Yang was dead.

Epsilon slowly put her body down as the Paladin approached him. He clenched his fists. He felt an anger in him. Something he never knew he could feel. He shot up, turning and growling at the Paladin.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Epsilon screamed in anger. The Paladin raised it's fist and lunged at Epsilon. Epsilon yelled and slammed his fist forward, the fists colliding and causing the Paladin's to explode on impact, knowing it back. Epsilon charged forward, leaping up into the air, and punched his right fist into the centre of the Paladin. The sheer force of the punch sent it flying back, it landed and fell to pieces. Reginald grunted as he landed on the floor, quickly getting back to his feet.

"Son of a bitch." He muttered. He gasped and turned to Epsilon. Epsilon raised his pistols and fired a dozen shots right at Reginald.

From above, the woman landed, the bullets hitting her in the back as she took the bullets. She turned and glared at Epsilon, completely unfazed by the bullets.

"It wasn't supposed to turn out like this." Reginald told her. "Ashley, if you would." Ashley dashed forward, spinning and lunging her legs at Epsilon. Epsilon shot over her, flying across the open area and landed on Reginald, pinning him to the ground. Without any hesitation, Epsilon put his right pistol in Reginald's mouth, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

 **XXXXXXXX  
XXXXXXXX**

* * *

"-Penny's dead! Pyrrha's dead! Everything's gone to shit! Your stupid truth hunt is just a _fucking_ waste of time!" Yang screamed, and tears started coming to her eyes. "I-I-I don't want you to die...like Penny...like Pyrrha...I've lost too much, Epsilon. I-I _can't_ lose you too."

Epsilon said nothing. He was shivering in fear. Yang noticed this.

"E-Epsilon? What's wrong?" Yang asked, concerned. Epsilon immediately shot forward, grabbing Yang as tightly as he could.

"I'm sorry." Epsilon apologised, his mouth muffled by her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Yang."

Yang was confused. Sorry for what? She just wrapped her arm around him, lightly patting him on the back.

Epsilon only had one thought.

Yang was alive.

* * *

 **End of Chapter Six**

* * *

 **Wow...this is something...different. So, at this point, I see this as the end of "ACT 1" of the story, and the beginning of "ACT 2", now that the story has taken a sudden turn.**

 **Now, this may...confuse you...it will be explained in due time, but just think about what has happened, and it might come to you.**

 **Again, sorry for the lateness of the update, but hay! Longest chapter yet!**

 **Don't forget to follow, favourite, and eave a review, and keep an eye out for...**

 **Chapter Seven: Search and Discover**


	7. Search and Discover

**Chapter Seven - Search and Discover**

 **(31 Days after the Fall of Beacon)**

* * *

 **Xiao Long-Rose Residence**

 **09:00**

* * *

He still couldn't process what had happened.

To Epsilon, he had convinced Yang to leave her bed-ridden state and come with him to Junior's bar to find answers, about why Beacon fell and who was behind it. After getting some information from Junior, which to be expected was not helpful, they fought against an Atlesian Paladin. which ended up causing Yang's death.

But, that never happened. Not to anyone else.

Yang was still bedridden, Epsilon had chosen to abandon his effort to get her up, out of fear of what he believed happened. Taiyang and Ruby still acted as normal, like they never left. It was as if Epsilon's mind had been put in his past body, but that isn't possible, is it?

Epsilon sighed deeply, leaning back on the bed he was currently using. It frustrated him, not knowing. He was an AI, an Artificial _Intelligence_ , emphasis on the intelligence. He should know, he always knew, but this was the one time he simply didn't know. Not knowing something for once almost made him feel...human.

"Epsilon?"

Epsilon looked at the door, seeing Ruby in the doorway. "What is it?" Epsilon asked.

"You haven't eaten anything in three days." Ruby informed him. "I brought you something." She walked over and handed him a plate full of cookies. Epsilon was slightly surprised. Ruby _never_ shared cookies.

"I'm not hungry." Epsilon told her, putting the plate on the bedside table.

"I don't even know if you process hunger." Ruby mused, walking over and sitting on her bed. "You once told me you could go for days without eating, but it does effect you."

"How so?" Epsilon asked. Ruby hummed for a second.

"Your eyes. They're usually bright and shiny gold, like Yang's hair. Now, they're just...they look tired." Ruby noticed. "I'm thinking maybe there's something on your mind which is effecting you too. You may be a robot, but in my eyes, you're no less a person than I am." Epsilon smiled a little.

She said something like that to Penny once.

 _"You're not like those things we saw back there. You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!"_

That disturbed Epsilon further.

How could he remember that?

 _He wasn't there._

"Ruby, do you ever feel like there is something you should know, but you just can't think of it?" Epsilon asked her.

"...huh?" Ruby made a confused noise.

"Like, let's say you're doing a history test. You've been taught by the teacher what you need to know, and you know you've been told it, but you can't remember it. How do you find out what you need to know?" He asked her. Ruby thought about it for a few seconds.

"Well, Professor Port wasn't the most...engaging teacher, so I had a hard time paying attention in class. I'd fall asleep or doodle to pass the time. So, when a test came, I'd ask for help, from someone like Weiss or Blake, someone who actually payed attention, someone who would know the answer." Ruby explained to him.

"Heh." Epsilon let out a dry laugh. "Not trusting sis much?"

"Well...between you and me, Yang isn't exactly the most reliable source of information from class, seeing as she pays less attention than me, even though that should be impossible." Ruby said in a hushed voice, as if Yang was sitting in the room with them.

Like she should be.

Epsilon sighed, rubbing his forehead, processing what Ruby had told him, and how he can relate to the situation.

Epsilon needs to know something, he should know it, but he can't figure it out.

He's been taught it before, but wasn't paying attention.

He needs help, someone who actually paid attention.

Someone who would know the answer.

But who else could possible know? It's not like there's another android out there who could possibly...

 _Another android...?_

Epsilon grinned.

He knew _exactly_ who would know.

"Epsilon?" Ruby asked, noticing his expression. Epsilon rose up, walked over to Ruby and gave her a big hug, eliciting a 'guh' from her.

"Thanks Ruby. Sometimes I forget how smart you really are." Epsilon thanked her.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby asked, pretending to be angry.

"Nothing." Epsilon told her. He grabbed the plate of cookies, took one and handed her the rest. "Here you go, you earned them."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered, immediately consuming the cookies like a vacuum cleaner hoovering a carpet, seemingly forgetting they were meant for Epsilon. Epsilon smirked and ruffled her hair, walking out the room and eating the cookie. He walked through the house to the front door.

"Tai! Going out!" Epsilon called.

"Okay kiddo! Keep out of trouble!" Taiyang yelled from another room. Epsilon opened the front door, kicking it shut behind him, activated his jet boots and took off.

* * *

 **Mountain Glenn**

 **12:00**

* * *

Epsilon flew around the decaying skyscrapers, looking for a particular hole in the ground. He hoped that he hadn't patched it up, or he was going to be spending a _long_ time searching for another entrance to the abandoned underground city beneath Mountain Glenn's main, abandoned city. He glanced down at the street, narrowing his eyes, and...

There!

Epsilon adjusted his current trajectory and flew straight down, straight through the hole in the ground into the near pitch black under-city. Luckily, he spotted some unnatural light further north in the city, and flew towards it.

BANG!

A gunshot rang out, hitting him in the right foot, causing him to lose flight control and slammed into the side of a building, scraping the synthetic flesh on his left arm and left side of his face, and slammed into the floor, creating a small crater. He groaned, not in pain, but in sheer _annoyance_.

Only _one_ person would shoot at a flying person without a second through.

"God damn it Ultra!" Epsilon yelled, pushing himself off the floor and dusting the gravel off his skin and clothes, looking at the exposed metal endoskeleton in his left arm.

 _Great. Now I have to explain that to Tai._

"Brother!" Ultra cheered, leaping off one of the buildings and landing on the street near Epsilon, tossing his weapon on the ground and running up to Epsilon with his arms open, expecting a hug.

Instead, he got a right hook.

"Ah, you bastard, that hurt!" Ultra exclaimed, holding onto his left cheek painfully.

"No it didn't." Epsilon deadpanned. Ultra paused for a moment.

"Yeah, it didn't." He chuckled, moving his hands away from his face.

Ultra looked exactly as he remembered last seeing him. Standing six feet tall, with somewhat long red hair, red eyes and pale skin. He appeared to be in his early 20's, with stubble growing on his face. He wore a red t-shirt and black suit-like trousers with a long, knee length black trench coat, with smart black shoes, black leather gloves and two disks wrapped around each wrist. Epsilon could only guess how many guns he had hidden inside his coat, and any other place he could hide them.

"Also, I can break the fourth wall, in case you forgot. Because I'm fucking insane. Just look for the underlined text. So, what are you doing here?" Ultra asked Epsilon.

"I was kind of hoping you would know why. I can't really explain why I'm here unless it happened to you too." Epsilon told him. Ultra smirked.

"So, you can remember things that haven't happened too. I figured." Ultra deduced. Epsilon let out a big sigh of relief.

"Thank you, someone else experienced what happened. I'm not insane." Epsilon realised. He then looked at Ultra. "Wait..."

 _Maybe I AM insane..._

"Don't think you're insane because I am. I can read you're thoughts. Literally." Ultra told him. He gestured Epsilon to follow. "Come on, I'll try and explain what's happening as best as I can."

Epsilon nodded and followed after him.

* * *

 **Patch**

 **12:00**

* * *

Ashley walked along the dirt path, the spike on the end of each 'leg' easily piercing the ground, making small holes with each step. She looked at the trees, the grass, the sky. All of it was beautiful to her, all natural. She smiled a little. She always enjoyed the simplicity, the beauty of nature. Soon though, her wandering thoughts came to a hault when she spotted her destination.

The home that Epsilon was staying at.

The Xiao Long-Rose residence.

* * *

 **Mountain Glenn**

 **12:15**

* * *

"Let me explain this as simply as I can." Ultra said to himself, moving a chalkboard into one of the abandoned buildings Epsilon was waiting in. "Just so we're on the same page, what day and time did the event occur, what caused it, and how far back did you move?"

"It was three days ago at 23:20, it happened...when Yang died and I killed the man who did it. When I pulled the trigger, I was sent back to 18:00, 5 hours and 20 minutes earlier the same day." Epsilon informed him. Ultra nodded and wrote down some stuff on the chalkboard.

"Okay, so, what I can deduce is that we have both been accidentally effected by Time Displacement." Ultra told Epsilon.

"...Time travel?" Epsilon asked.

"Oh come on, we both know you've time travelled before. Remember when you and David were with Team QRTS for like, weeks in the past." Ultra reminded him.

"Team STRQ." Epsilon corrected.

"Oh, don't pull that bullshit with me, we both remember it being Team QRTS." Ultra told him.

"...Yeah, it's odd." Epsilon noted.

"Okay." Ultra put the chalk down and turned to Epsilon. "First off, I want to explain why we both have memories that are wrong, why we remember Team STRQ being so...different."

"...Okay." Epsilon said.

"By the way, the real reason is a continuity issue. It's related to what has happened here. We were both accidentally thrown back in time by an outside force, this time was a few hours, the other time was 25 years. You see, what we saw was what David believed happened, but it didn't since he wasn't there. That's a Distorted Memory. Glad I cleared that up, it's been an annoying issue for me." Ultra explained. "Basically, the man, or someone else nearby, realised they had lost, so reversed the timeline to do it again, only this time we would lose, as they'd know what we'd do. You understand?"

"Pretty much. Except, if they reverse time, why do we retain our memories from events that never happened?" Epsilon asked his brother.

"Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. My guess, there is some kind of link between the person who caused the time distortion and us. Because of that link, we retained our memories, as they would have too." Ultra suggested.

"And it's only us two?" Epsilon added.

"As far as I know. The Xiao Long-Rose family I can understand, they're just humans. But Peter and Willow are Inhumans, and neither of them remember. If Penny were still around, we could ask her, see if all androids are immune, or if it's just us two. But, she's gone now." Ultra stated. Epsilon sighed sadly, lowering his head. "Sorry if I brought up bad memories."

"Memory is the key. I can't just forget her, I just try to remember the good times." Epsilon explained.

"Stupid RvB nerd."

Epsilon stood up, walking to the exit, Ultra following. "That it then? Just came for some answers and that's it? No hug?"

"That's what I came here for. No need to hang around. Now that this confusion is off my chest, I can continue my hunt for the truth." Epsilon explained.

"Stupid Halo nerd."

"And by the way, what am I going to tell Tai about this?" Epsilon asked, annoyed, gesturing to his face.

"Just tell him you got caught off guard by a Beowolf." Ultra told him with a shrug.

"'Keep out of trouble' was the one thing he told me to do. You're definitely getting the blame." Epsilon deadpanned.

"Fuck if I care. He probably doesn't even know who I am." Ultra told Epsilon with a smirk.

"Yeah." Epsilon sighed, agreeing with him. "Well, I doubt this is the last I'll be seeing of you."

"Geez, thanks." Ultra muttered as they reached the spotlight in the floor caused by the hole above. "I'm sure I'll be back in a later chapter."

Epsilon held out his hand. "Thanks for the help."

"Idiot." Ultra sighed, pulling Epsilon into a hug. "We may not have the best history, but we're still brothers. It won't kill you to show some affection." Epsilon tensed a little, but returned it. After a few seconds, Epsilon let go, pushing the overly-clingy Ultra off him. "See you around."

Epsilon nodded and activated his jet boots, taking off back home.

* * *

 **Patch**

 **15:30**

* * *

Epsilon landed near the Xiao Long-Rose residence, mentally preparing himself for the earful he was sure to get from Taiyang. Epsilon let out a sigh and entered the house, unaware of the black haired girl watching nearby.

* * *

 **End of Chapter Seven**

* * *

 **Holy shit, I wasn't even sure I I was ever going to return to this story, but here I am! Basically, most of my attention is now on "After the Fall", but since I can't continue it until October, I might as well finish up the 'prequel' stories, even though this story, and the other 'prequels' were meant to be finished before After the Fall, so that story would have been the 'sequel' bu whatever.**

 **So, since After the Fall is a sequel, several characters in this story appear in that one, so you should know how this all ends up. If you've read After the Fall, great, you have foresight and might notice foreshadowing. If you haven't read After the Fall, I urge you to wait until this story is finished before reading it, due to spoilers. If you have read After the Fall, and intend to leave a review, don't put spoilers for those who haven't read it as it could give away parts of this story.**

 **Also, I want to "apologise" for this chapter being just dialogue really, but there will be more action in future chapters. Since the last chapter I wrote and uploaded, about 9 months ago, I have made changes to the overall story of this and future stories, so hopefully it'll be better than I originally planned.**

 **So to end, remember to follow, favourite and leave a review, and I'll see you all in chapter eight, hopefully in less than another 9 months.**

 **Chapter Eight: Fallout of Beacon**


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